Happy Labor Day!
The team at Brilliant HR hopes you have a fantastic holiday today!
An Introduction to Digital HR and Why You Need to Adopt This Strategy
By Larry Alton via HR.com
Human Resources (HR) has been around for decades. It’s the foundation that builds strong organizations. Traditionally, the HR department of an organization is tasked with recruiting, screening, and training new hires along with managing programs related to employee benefits.
While many traditional HR tasks are managed with computers, digital HR adds an extra pillar of support for all HR processes. In other words, digital HR isn’t separate from traditional HR, but rather, a support system that increases the efficiency of running a human resources department.
What is “digital HR?”
Digital HR describes the use of technology to optimize HR processes. The cluster of tech used is called “SMAC tech” and consists of social, mobile, analytics, and cloud technologies. The end result of optimizing HR processes with SMAC tech is an efficient, effective, and connected HR team.
Digital HR components
The goal of digital HR is to increase efficiency and effectiveness with specific digital technologies. Those digital components include:
- Digital advertising. Many HR departments use pay per click (PPC) advertising platforms to solicit applications to fill employee positions and generate clients. This streamlines the hiring process, especially when combined with automated screening technology. The most popular PPC platforms are Instagram, Facebook, and Google Adwords.
Many HR departments also take advantage of the other side of digital advertising by becoming a publisher on Google’s Adsense platform. Organizations that have a blog will benefit greatly from monetizing their content with Adsense. Since most websites run on WordPress, any HR team can set up Adsense quickly and easily without any technical help. - Automated screening tech. Some organizations develop proprietary software technology designed to screen applicants automatically. Applicants fill out an application online and applications are filtered according to the answers.
For example, if a company requires a master’s degree, all applicants that do not have a master’s degree get filtered into a separate folder. The company can still access those applications, but those who have a master’s degree are filtered into the main inbox where they’ll be given priority.
Automated screening software can also be used to segment applicants according to a predefined tier of priorities. For instance, say an organization prefers to hire website developers who also have basic knowledge of Photoshop. The application can be set up to ask if the applicant has any Photoshop knowledge on a scale of “none” to “expert” and apply a tag accordingly.
The same type of segmentation can be applied to any other required or negotiable skill as determined by the organization. In this way, applicants can be tagged according to a scale of preference as the organization determines ahead of time to make candidate selection easier. - Cloud platforms. Today, almost anything can be hosted in the cloud. This includes websites, third-party software, proprietary software, and anything else required to run an organization. By hosting HR-related software in the cloud, the company doesn’t need to maintain onsite resources like servers and special network components.
- Company intranets. A company intranet is a powerful component of digital HR technology. Employees, contractors, and even vendors need a private space to conduct business communications and access stored data.
A company intranet is also the best way to foster connection and communication among team members. Intranets also provide employees with a self-help area where they can get answers to questions, access procedures, company regulations, and other important information. - Digital analytics. Also hosted in the cloud are digital analytics programs. Analytics are important to every HR department because they can measure every aspect of the employee lifecycle.
Digital HR gives organizations a competitive advantage
Every HR department is better off when utilizing digital strategies to acquire and retain talent. Social media hasn’t entirely replaced job postings in the physical newspaper, but it’s definitely eclipsed listings in the paper.
People are spending more time than ever on their smartphones and tablets, specifically spending time on social media. To get a competitive edge on acquiring talent, it’s no longer optional to use digital HR strategies. If you want to acquire top talent and thrive in today’s marketplace, you need to leverage social media at minimum.
Get the edge on talent acquisition with digital HR
Organizations are constantly competing for top talent. The organizations that can attract the right applicants will have the best pool of talent to choose from. Using digital HR is the best way to attract and retain top talent once acquired.
Brilliant HR Announces Strategic Alliance Partnership with Unicorn HRO to Expand HCM, Payroll and Compensation Solution
NAPLES, F.L., May 27, 2020 – Brilliant HR, a global and award-winning leader in Compensation and Human Resource software, announced today that they have solidified a partnership with Unicorn HRO, an industry leader offering fully integrated and configurable human resources, benefits and payroll solutions.
The partnership allows Brilliant HR to offer its clients a broader range of payroll products and administrative services through Unicorn’s iCON platform. Integration of Brilliant HR’s Comprehensive Compensation (CoCo) platform and iCON will reduce the administrative burden on users by providing a seamless flow of data from onboarding an employee to salary adjustments and incentive plans.
Monique Hernandez, President of Brilliant HR commented, “I am honored and excited to begin our partnership with Unicorn HRO. Managing the compensation planning process efficiently and accurately is more critical than ever given the increased emphasis on pay equality in the workplace. We look forward to providing Unicorn HRO’s valuable clients with our solution, as we know it will address a need a lot of companies are looking to fill during these changing times. I look forward to working together with Unicorn HRO to provide our clients with a unique offering of high-quality solutions.”
This partnership reinforces the powerful integration capabilities of our iCON platform, enabling organizations to manage end-to-end HR processes more efficiently,” stated Frank P. Diassi, Chairman and CEO of Unicorn HRO. “Our partnership with Brilliant HR further expands the ecosystem of applications and solutions available to support the unique needs of our customers.”
About Brilliant HR Inc.
Brilliant HR provides a comprehensive, cloud-based compensation planning software that helps organizations streamline and automate salary planning. Their highly configurable, secure platform allows companies to simplify complicated compensation processes, optimize human capital investment, and drive business performance. Brilliant HR’s compensation planning tool, CoCo, is designed by compensation experts and supports clients across various industries with simple to complex salary review processes. Brilliant HR also has offices in Naples, FL, and Dallas, TX. For more information, visit https://www.brillianthr.com.
About Unicorn HRO
Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Florham Park, N.J., Unicorn HRO specializes in fully integrated and configurable benefits, payroll, and human resources technology solutions. With industry-leading client retention, Unicorn HRO currently services mid-sized and large organizations, representing over 300,000 end users. Unicorn HRO also has offices in Durham, NC, Seattle, WA, Houston and Florham Park, NJ. For more information, visit http://www.unicornhro.com.
Leadership and Employee Engagement During a Global Crisis – You can still flourish
It’s easy to get wrapped up in negativity. Let’s face it, we’ve all let it get the best of us a time or two. As leaders, how we interact with our teams during a time of crisis can have a huge impact on employee engagement. Our teams look to us to feel connected, positive and good about their careers and providing all of those things will define whether our organizations sink or swim at any time, let alone during times of turmoil. As we seek to partner with the companies in the industries we serve, we are reminded that we are all human and navigating a very difficult historical event. We want to share encouragement because we are all in this together and there are things we can do and behaviors we can adopt that will help us support our teams.
In a recent article written by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, we are reminded of how one company handled the global crisis of 2008/2009. Leadership used the crisis as an opportunity to spread hope and positivity by leading with gratitude and expressing frequent, sincere appreciation for employees. By keeping morale high and focusing on the right behaviors, in 2010 this company reported its best financial year in its 57 year history. Just by leading with gratitude and giving frequent feedback they were able to inspire and build momentum for the future even during an exceptionally difficult period!
Giving frequent feedback has a number of benefits:
- Increased Motivation
- Enhanced Performance
- Elevated Engagement
Think about that for a moment. By giving frequent, meaningful feedback we are providing exactly what our teams are looking for from us! They want to feel connected, positive and good about their careers. This is something every single one of us has some control over unlike many of the other things that are affecting our lives, both personally and professionally. It doesn’t matter whether you hold a position of senior leadership, project management, or are an individual contributor or project team member. We all have a responsibility to look out for one another by showing empathy and compassion.
At Deltek, we have been focused on reminding one another that we are in this together no matter what our roles are, how we are impacted, or where we are located in the world. We have found more opportunities to connect socially since our whole company adapted to remote working. We’ve turned on the video in our calls and practiced what we preach about staying connected and leveraging technology to help us do our jobs better. The result? I think most would agree that we have all become closer somehow, more focused, more dedicated, and even more engaged.
As leaders during a time of crises we must celebrate the small stuff, be optimistic, and share as much as we are able to with our employees. We must engage with them, touch base frequently, and exhibit integrity. This is the time for good leadership to shine and help their organizations come out of this swimming even stronger and faster than they were before. You have a choice. Are you going to let your organizations sink or swim?
Recruiting in Unprecedented Times: Evolving the Candidate Experience
We are somewhere in the middle of an unparalleled event that will likely change the way with think about how we work forever. This ‘new normal’ we are living may not last forever, but it is likely that more of the workforce will expect different working options in the future. The demands of the workforce will continue to evolve, which will impact everything from how employees are managed to how new hires are recruited.
Candidates are experiencing challenges like never before. Some companies have placed a freeze on hiring and positions that are actively being recruited for are attracting massive amounts of applicants. Other companies may be faced with remote hiring in order to accommodate new projects resulting from stimulus dollars being injected into the certain parts of the economy. Now more than ever, companies must ensure they have an attractive brand and excellent candidate experience. And as we all know, once we start returning back to normal, even some of our own furloughed employees may choose to look elsewhere.
The many of us tend to overlook the ‘experience’, that is, what our candidates are going through when trying to find and apply to jobs. After they apply, what is the impression they get while wondering if their resume has been reviewed, considered, and when or if they will hear back from anyone? This lack of transparency and follow up can lead to a poor candidate experience. As Talent professionals, we need to challenge ourselves on changes we need to make to improve their experience if we stand a chance to win over the best and brightest for our business.
The goal here is to provide you with some quick and easy wins that will help you get the advantage and fill project positions faster than ever before. But first, let’s look at a few stats that will support the best practices we will cover.
- Gallup report indicated that 60% of candidates say that better communication throughout and after the application process would make the most positive impact.
- Glassdoor reported very closely to the same with 58% of candidates citing that the most important factor to a positive experience included clear and regular communication.
- Glassdoor also reported that making an online job application even 10% easier to complete can cause a 2.3% increase in job applications from mobile users and a 1.5% increase from desktop users.
Consider what a poor or negative candidate experience can do to your business. After a Rallyfwd conference, the attendee poll summarized that 73% of companies say they have been impacted by a negative candidate experience. This could mean reduction in referrals, poor reviews on social media sites, and an overall decline in candidate applications. Another stat that ties into this as well is 50% of candidates say they wouldn’t work for a company with a bad reputation – even for a pay increase.
So, the question is “what can you do now to ensure your positions are viewed, applications flood in, and you have overall project success?”
Company Brand – Your Image
Think about the last time you reviewed your company’s website content. Have you provided any new videos about company culture, what benefits or perks are offered, as well as career growth opportunities with your company? Does your website stand out from your competition? As a rule of thumb, you should review your career site at least every two to three years but once a year doesn’t hurt. That doesn’t necessarily mean you need to change things but keep in mind, the internet is constantly changing, software changes, and the world definitely continues to evolve. As we navigate our new normal, what candidates are looking for in a company will definitely change and we need to make sure we are keeping with the pace of our competition to keep candidates interested.
Application Process
When designing and configuring your candidate application process or workflow, be sure you are only capturing what is absolutely necessary up front. To throw another stat at you, 60% of job seekers have quit an application due to its length or complexity (Lever.co/blog). If your application is too lengthy and takes too long for candidates to complete, where they have to save and come back to it later, that may create angst and discourage the candidate from completing the process or they may forget altogether. If you’re not seeing the application completion numbers you’d like, review your workflow. When applications are simple, quick and easy not only does it increase your application completion rates, but it gives recruiters an opportunity to follow-up with candidates and start developing a relationship.
Additionally, are you:
- Leveraging social apply methods? Are your candidates able to apply using existing social profiles eliminating the need to create and maintain additional accounts?
- Screening candidates based on required skills, experience or certifications the job req requires? Be sure your screen-in and screen-out messages are clear on what the candidate’s next steps are. Even if they are screened-out, provide a message that is encouraging leaving a positive impression as the candidate may be a good fit for future project positions.
- Keeping candidates informed by using Talent’s Candidate Status Transparency System Setting? This provides an update to your candidates on where they are with their application process without the recruiter or the candidate having to reach out.
- Reviewing your general reply emails? What does your automated “Thank you for applying email” say about you and your company? Do not leave the candidate hanging with a simple thank you. Encourage them to check other positions they may be a good fit for, provide links to your company’s social pages like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, etc. where candidates can stay informed on your company. Use this opportunity to tout on all the great things your company has to offer.
- Taking the time to walk through your application process, start to finish, including reviewing your messaging so that you can see first-hand what your candidates have to experience? I encourage you to do this and adjust your processes as needed to improve the candidate experience.
Leverage Talent Pools and Talent Relationship Management (TRM) Campaigns
You’ve probably heard me or one of my colleagues say that Top Candidates are gone within 10 days. This stat should resonate with anyone in the project based business world knowing how critical it is to start projects on time.
Talent Pools help you build pipelines of your runner-up candidates that are specific to your business. You’re able to categorize and group candidates so that you can easily locate them later. This is one of the best proactive methods you can use in your recruiting strategy.
We’ve talked about Talent Relationship Management (TRM) in the past and have several resources available to you around TRM campaigns which you can find on our company website. TRM is designed to help you develop lasting relationships and build trust with your candidates. Adding drip campaigns as part of your recruiting processes will give you the upper hand when needing to fill future project positions.
Candidates are Customers too
Keep in mind, these best practices are just a few examples of ways to improve the candidate experience. I encourage you to make it a habit to continuously review your processes and identify what is working and what isn’t. We know candidates and recruiting is an ebb and flow and we have to be flexible enough to shift and adjust as needed.
To be successful, we all need to deliver a meaningful candidate experience that keeps them coming back again and again. Without our candidates, we cannot run our business or our projects. Our candidates are our customers!
References/Stats
50% of candidates say they wouldn’t work for a company with a bad reputation – even for a pay increase. (Betterteam Blog 2017)
HCI https://www.hci.org/blog/statistics-rethink-your-candidate-experience-or-ruin-your-brand